Careful out there.
Texas has the fourth-highest risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among U.S. states, according to a new study by online lab-testing firm TheLabCafe.com. Compounding the concern, infection rates increased statewide from 2017-2022, the years covered under the report.
Hitting close to home, the study also shows that Bexar County has the highest STI rate of any major Lone Star State metro. It recorded 1,182 STI cases per 100,000 residents.
To get its statewide results, TheLabCafe researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control’s 2023 STI surveillance tables. They also consulted the CDC’s National Center’s HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention Atlas for county-level results.
TheLabCafe officials correlated Texas’ rising STI rates to socioeconomic factors such as the state’s health insurance crisis. Texas ranks as the least-insured U.S. state, with its rate of 16.7% more than double the national average.
“Lack of insurance creates barriers to routine STI screening, preventative care and timely treatment — all critical for controlling community transmission,” TheLabCafe CEO Jim Gebhart said in an emailed statement.
Poverty and low education levels are also play significant roles in infection rates, according to Gebhart. What’s more, Texas’ high number of medical clinic closures and its current syphilis epidemic also likely played into the high statewide rate, he added.
Bexar County has a 19% uninsured rate among those under 65, TheLabCafe found. That’s nearly 2.5 times higher than the national average. Overall, the county’s uninsured rate is 15.9%, which is below the state average but still significant, Gebhart added.
Here are some other key takeaways from the report:
•Texas syphilis rates nearly doubled from 9.7 to 18.8 cases per 100,000 people from 2017-2022.
•The state’s gonorrhea rates increased by about 21% , hitting 249.4 cases per 100,000 during the same period.
•Chlamydia declined from 2018 to 2019 and now sits at 626 per 100,000 after a post-pandemic rebound.
•HIV diagnoses declined sharply in 2020, dropping 17.8%, then bounced back to just above 2017 levels by 2022.
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